Cowboy Bebop: Session 135: Melody of Mars
by AndySpence99
Summary: The crew of the Bebop try to capture a bounty head. For Spike, it is a person of his past and the person he thought he never thought he would see again. The following takes place between sessions 13 and 14. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

In the Bebop, everyone never talked to each other after the incident on Jupiter. Spike was looking at the stars from the window. Jet was deciding what to cook, if there was any food. Jet thought, 'Maybe bell peppers and beef?' Ed was waving her arms while walking backwards and Ein followed her, playfully. Faye, on the inside, was traumatised by her encounter with Gren. She saw him in the shower and saw a man with a female body. She saw him as a transgender and thought it wasn't natural, until Gren revealed his backstory. In her head, Faye could hear a saxophone playing the song Gren played, Julia. On the outside, Faye seemed to hide her true feelings. She looked at her toenails and saw they were painted blue, a colour she asked Ed to never to use.

Faye let out a sigh. "Always blue around here." she exclaimed, quietly, "Always blue."

"Alright, everyone, food's ready!" Jet called out to everyone on the Bebop.

"What is it this time?" Spike asked, hoping the answer wasn't bell peppers and beef.

"Bell peppers and beef." Jet answered.

Spike let out a groan in response.

Ed suddenly got excited. "Ed is hungry for delicious food crunchies!" Ein, in response to Edward, let out a bark.

"Aw, really?! That's all we have left in this damn ship?!" Faye asked, irritated.

"Hey, that's all we have." Jet said, "We're nearly out of food. Just be grateful we **have** something to eat."

"He's got a point, Faye." Spike said.

A few minutes later, after the bell peppers and beef were cooked, everyone were eating from their own plates. Spike was still remembering the **last** time he ate bell peppers and beef. Jet was eating his whole looking at the computer. Faye ate hers with an angry face. Ed munches it quickly, she makes a mess. Ein eats some that has fallen on the floor.

"How can you call it bell peppers and beef if there's no beef?" Faye asked.

"Don't worry about it," Spike said, "I learned to deal with it."

"Alright, that's it!" Jet got angry, "Next time, you shouldn't judge my cooking skills with my other dishes."

"If you can **call** them 'dishes'." Spike said, while giggling. Faye laughed.

Jet stared at Spike, with angry eyes.

"Alright, take it easy." Spike said, "I was just joking."

"Anyways, I just got a message from your pal, the doctor, from Mars asking us to come quickly." Jet said.

"Really?" Spike asked, "What does he want?"

"A new bounty's popped up into the surface." Jet answered

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Faye asked, "I need that money!"

"What for?" Spike asked.

" **Business**." Faye answered.

"What **sort** of 'business'?" Spike continued to question Faye.

" **That's** private." Faye decided to end this conversation.

Spike looked at her for a few seconds, until he said "Let's go."

Spike ran up to the control deck to steer the Bebop. He flew to Mars by flying to the portal gates.

After 4 hour flight, the Bebop landed in the river near a building on Mars. Spike wrangled his fingers after using the the two joysticks to steer the Bebop. Jet was hoping to get outside for fresh air. An impatient Faye was relieved to have landed in Mars. Ed was bouncing around all over the place.

"Alright, everyone, let's go!" Spike called out, "Ed, you're coming too. Bring Ein along."

Ed, hearing this, excitedly picked up the corgi and ran out of the Bebop along with the others.

The sun was shining brightly on the surface of Mars as the crew of the Bebop walked down to the place where the doctor was.

As they arrived, the guards checked who was arriving.

"You must be here for the doctor, right?" asked the guard, "Follow me."

They followed the guard into the building until...

"I'm sorry, but this animal isn't allowed within the premise." The guard said, pointing at Ein.

Ed was worried, "But..."

Spike needed to see the doctor, "Ed, c'mon, he'll be OK."

Ed was downhearted.

"Sorry, Ein, big guard will make sure you're fine." she said, sadly.

Ein let out a whine as he is separated from Ed by the guard.

As they reached the lab, the doctor spotted Spike.

"So," he said, without looking at them, "you managed to get the message, huh?"

"Yeah," Spike responded, "What's this all about?"

"Well, y'see, there's a new bounty as mentioned in the message."

"How much is it worth?" Jet asked.

"10 million Woolong." the doctor responded.

Everyone was amazed.

Spike couldn't help but ask...

"Who is this guy?"

"Well, this is where it gets interesting." the doctor said, "See, I was looking up who this person was and, Spike, don't get mad, but I saw the results and found out his life." The doctor tried to give everyone the results, "Spike, I think he's your father."

Everyone was shocked, especially Spike.

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Everyone didn't know what to say about this revelation. Spike was stunned. He hadn't seen his dad for a long time after he left him at the age of 8. His mother died after giving birth to him. Spike passed all that aside and assumed this wouldn't be his dad.

"No." Spike said, "No, no, NO!"

He slammed his hand on the table.

"Spike, I realise this is a very shocking thing to tell you," the doctor said, "but this is your father."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Spike yelled, angrily, "MY FATHER RAN AWAY FROM ME AFTER MY MOTHER DIED AND COULDN'T HANDLE IT! HE **CAN'T** BE A BOUNTY HEAD OF 10 MILLION WOOLONGS!"

Faye couldn't take anymore of Spike shouting.

"SPIKE, CALM DOWN!" Faye shouted, "SHOUTING ISN'T GONNA CHANGE A DAMN THING!"

Spike stared at Faye with anger. Faye did, too.

Then, Spike decided to calm down.

"Well then, try to prove me wrong." the doctor said, in response, "Prove to me that he isn't a bounty worth 10 million Woolongs."

"Fine." Spike responded, patiently, "Where can I find him?"

The doctor gave Spike some information.

"Well, there's been reports of him joining up with a group, but I tried to find out who, yet the computer couldn't reveal which."

"Well, that's just great." Spike said, "I'm off. Anyone else wanna join?"

Faye let out a sigh.

"Fine, **I'll** go."

Spike, trying to think of a point of why Faye can't join him, gave in and left the lab with Faye.

"Jet, stay here and look after Ed, will ya?" Spike ordered.

"Oh, sure thing." Jet responded.

Then, Spike and Faye were gone.

Outside, Spike was walking down the pavement with Faye but couldn't help but ask him questions.

"How come you never mentioned anything about your family?" Faye asked.

"You're asking me this, why?" Spike asked, annoyed.

"Because you mentioned your parents earlier." Faye responded

"Yeah, and that's all you'll ever hear." Spike said.

"Fine." Faye sighed.

Back at the lab, the doctor tried to figure out the group he mentioned, while Jet and Ed were waiting for Spike and Faye, bored out of their minds.

"There must be something I'm missing." the doctor tried to reveal the group.

"Well, what?" Jet asked.

"I don't know." the doctor responded, "Maybe, I should try and examine the bounty's details and see if it reveals anything."

The doctor opened the door, only to find a corgi running into the room, barking around the room and occasionally, growling at the doctor.

"What the-GAHH!" the doctor questioned, while panicking at the energetic dog as it sometimes growled and barked at him.

"EIN!" Jet and Ed said simultaneously.

"You know this mutt?!" the doctor asked, angrily.

"He, uh, he belongs to us." Jet answered.

Ein started to jump in front of the keyboards and walked around on them, as the computer screen starts to glitch by showing different information.

"GET OFF THE KEYBOARD, YOU DISGUSTING MONGREL!" The doctor shouted.

The corgi growled at the doctor and jumped towards him, barking as he launched. The doctor ducked his head, and Ein is about to fall on the ground. Luckily, Jet manages to catch the dog in his arms just in time.

"Listen, doc, that's no way to talk to the pooch. Or act, even." Jet scolded the doctor.

Ein started to feel safe around Jet's arms and allows him pet his head while letting out a happy whine.

"See, he just missed us, since we were in here too long."

"But thanks to him, the computer's broken, so we don't know the group." the doctor said, irritated.

"Who're they?" Ed asked pointing to the screen

"'They'? Who do you mean..." the doctor turned to the computer screen and saw a group of men on the screen.

"...'they'." He finished his question turned realisation.

He saw who the group was.

"Oh no." He said, under his breath, "No, no, no, no, no."

"What is it?" Jet asked.

"I know who this bounty is working for." the doctor responded.

"Oh. So, does that mean Ein isn't a 'disgusting mongrel'?" Jet asked, jokingly.

"No," the doctor responded, "but listen, he's part of the Alaris."

"Who are the 'Alaris'?" Jet asked.

"You don't know?" the doctor asked, "They are a group of assassins and thieves, who steal and kill people for it."

"Spike doesn't know this." Jet said.

"Exactly." the doctor said, "Which is why you need to go after him."

"Will do. Ed, you and Ein go back to the Bebop and **stay** there." Jet ordered Ed.

"Aw, but Ed wants to beat up criminals, right, Ein?" Ed asked Ein.

Ein let out a bark in response and jumped out of Jet's arms.

"Ed, I'm serious." Jet said.

Ed drooped her head, and Ein let out a whine as they both left the lab before Jet.

At the centre of town, Spike and Faye were still looking for his father until they saw a man in black. Not a suit but a sort of black cloak and a black fedora type hat. Spike and Faye started to suspect something.

"What do you think?" Faye asked.

"Well, if I were wearing something like that, that screams crime."

The man in black seemed to have seen them and ran. Spike and Faye chased after him until they reached an alley. Spike and Faye took out their guns to arm themselves.

"Alright, game's up, my friend." Spike called out.

"Well, you seem to be doing well and you're using your senses, boy." a voice said.

"What?" Spike asked.

"Back then, you would have had a lotta trouble if you were trained back then."

"WHO **ARE** YOU?!" Spike shouted.

"After all these years, it's me."

The man in black revealed himself and unmasked himself to show it is Spike's dad. He looked like Spike but had grey around his hair and has a beard.

"Dad..." Spike said, stunned.

 **TO BE CONCLUDED...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Spike was astonished. In front of him was the man he once called father, a long time ago. Faye wanted to say something but felt it best to stay silent.

"Son, after all these years," Spike's dad said, "we've found each other."

"I guess we have." Spike responded.

"Sorry," Faye interrupted, "but, who **are** you?"

"I am Jeremiah Spiegel." he responded, "Or, J, whatever you wish."

"What are you doing here?" Spike asked.

"We have to talk." J answered, "But, not here."

They, then, decided to go where J wanted to talk.

Meanwhile, Jet was searching for Spike and Faye, worried about what was going to happen to them. Soon, he got a call from the doctor.

"Did you find him?" the doctor asked.

"No, I'm still looking." Jet answered.

"Well, **keep** searching."

With that, Jet keep looking. He went up to an old woman selling broken machinery.

"Have you seen a guy with enormous hair and a woman who's not wearing much." Jet asked.

"Me see two people with J, looking like Alaris boy. Gone to different alley up three blocks." she answered.

"Thanks." Jet said.

"You buy now?" She directed to the junk.

"No way." Jet said, "That crap's nothing but junk."

Jet ran to where the lady was directing, while the lady sighed as the man didn't buy her items.

Spike and Faye went with J to another alley where he wanted to talk to them.

"Ok, we're here." J said, "Anyone wanna ask anything?"

"Yeah," Faye said, annoyed, "why did you leave **him** when he was a young boy?"

Faye pointed at Spike as she said 'him'.

J sighed, "I couldn't cope. Ever since your mother's death, I know that me being a single parent wasn't gonna work. And I couldn't pay child welfare services."

"Then, I ran off to look for you." Spike said, "That's when I met the doctor and he took care of me."

"But, I went to the doctor and he said that I needed to pay child welfare, so I tried to get money."

" **That's** why you were a bounty." Spike said. "I mean, 10 million Woolongs is a **bit** much."

"Yeah," J said, worryingly, "but, Spike, what I really want to say was..."

"SPIKE!" Jet managed to find Spike and Faye.

"Jet, what are you..." Spike tried to say something.

"Spike, listen, I know why he cost 10 million Woolongs." Jet said, "He's part of the Alaris."

"Who're Alaris?" Spike asked, confused.

"They are a group of thieves and assassins, who steal and kill people afterwards."

"You're saying that... my dad's... an... assassin?" Spike couldn't believe it.

"Spike, this might be hard, but..."

Spike started to punch Jet in the jaw.

"SPIKE! WHAT THE HELL?!" Faye yelled.

"YOU DON'T **EVER** SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY FAMILY!" Spike shouted, enraged, "YOU DON'T EVER!"

"SPIKE!" J tried to get everyone's attention.

Faye turned around, Jet looked through Spike's legs and Spike turned his head, in anger.

"Your friend's right, son." J said, "I'm one of Alaris."

"Dad," Spike tried to see that his dad was lying, "No, you're..."

"It's true. Spike, you have to let go of the past and grow up. I'm not the hero you saw me as a kid."

Then, the rest of Alaris, went up to them. There were 3 people. One of them, the leader, went up to J and gave J a backhand smack. J landed on the floor and tried to get up, but the leader put his foot on him, inabling him to get up.

"You imbecile," he said, angrily, "I don't want any intruders."

Spike held up a gun, "Don't even **try** to escape."

"Spike, no!" J tried to stop him.

"You want to save him?" the leader was confused, then he laughed, "Boy, he murdered more people than any of us."

Spike opened his eyes wide, hearing the truth while J was in shame.

"Spike..." J tried to talk to Spike.

"Don't talk to me." Spike ignored him.

"Don't leave us," the leader said, " **We're** just getting **started**."

The other members held up their guns.

Faye and Jet ran up to two of the members and started fighting them.

Spike punched the leader in the face, which caused him to fall backwards, getting his foot off J.

The two members were knocked out by Faye and Jet.

Spike was still fighting the leader until he was knocked over by him and he started to ready his gun, until J knocked him out.

J turned to Spike.

"It's never too late to change." J said.

Spike started to smile slightly.

The leader got back up and aimed his gun at J.

"DAD!" Spike tried to save J, until...

 **BLAMMMM!**

J was shot by the leader, and was shot in the chest, where the heart was located. J fell down to the ground.

Spike tried to help him, but was distracted by the leader laughing.

"A worthless life to sacrifice." he said.

Spike got up from the ground aimed his gun at the leader on the head. Anger was running among him.

"Shoot me." the leader said, "Show me your **true** anger."

Spike gets ready to shoot, with Faye and Jet trying to make Spike stop. As Spike was about to shoot him, he quickly aimed his gun from the leader's head to his right leg and shot it.

" **AAAGGGHHHHH!** " the leader screamed in pain.

"Then, we wouldn't have a bounty." Spike said.

Jet and Faye were relieved.

"You're all bounty hunters?" the leader asked, then said, "You would have been worthless as one of us."

"Shut up." Spike said, annoyed, as he smacks the leader with his gun.

Spike went up to J to make sure he was still alive.

"Y...You're a bounty... ahhh... hunter... ?" J struggled to get the words out of his mouth

"Dad." Spike said, "Hold on, I'll try and get help."

"N... N... No, Spike." J said. "It's time to... let go... of... the... pa... st..."

With that, Spike watched as J passed away in his arms.

Faye and Jet stood in silence as Spike cradled the only family he ever knew.

 **Jeremiah Spiegel**

 **2005 - 2071**

 **Coming Soon: Melody of Mars: Epilogue**


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

There were gunshots all over the place and two halves of a TV logo came together. Trumpets let out noise, followed by a banjo playing a catchy tune. The TV logo says 'Big Shot: For The Bounty Hunters'. A couple of presenters stood back to back with their guns out.

"Oy, amigos," said Punch, "How're y'all doin'?"

"And now it's time for 'Big Shot'," Judy said, "The show for all you bounty hunters across the star system."

There were pictures of the three members of Alaris getting arrested and taken into the police station.

"Chucks howdy!" Punch began to speak, "The big news is the thief/assassin group 'Alaris' being arrested. One of the four members, unfortunately, was killed before the group was turned in."

"Oh, well," Judy let out a sigh, "looks like that's 10 million Woolongs **wasted**."

"On the plus side," Punch continued, "the most dangerous criminals in all the universe are locked up and putting up with life sentences."

"Well, what's up next?" Judy asked.

"I'm glad you asked me, 'cause the next bounty head is Darnal Tramuda, famous for stealing the ancient drug of marijuana." said Punch.

"Huh, never heard of that." Judy put her finger underneath her jaw, "How much is this guy worth?"

"Well, I'd say we're looking at... 900,000 Woolongs." Punch answered.

"Really? Whoowee!" Judy cheered with excitement.

"Well, good luck to all you lucky bounty hunters." She said, looking at the screen.

"Time to hit the road!" Punch was about to wrap up their show, "Tune in next time!"

"Sayonara!" Judy said, while making a gun with her hand and shoots upwards, ending the show.

Back at the Bebop, Ed and Ein waited patiently for Spike, Jet and Faye to return from fighting Alaris. The three of them returned to the Bebop, each carrying heavy bags. Ein, seeing them, barked to announce their arrival.

"Ein, keep it down." Faye ordered Ein, wearily, "You're giving me a headache."

"So, how was the butt-whopping?" Ed asked.

"Ugh, don't ask, Ed." Jet said, "Don't ask."

Everyone remained silent until...

The bags were slammed on the table.

"What're they?" Ed asked, looking at the bags.

"Well," Spike said, letting out what was in the bags - food! "it's not exactly 'bell peppers and beef'."

Ed and Ein stared at the food with delight. Jet stared at Spike, astonished. He started to think to himself.

'How is it that you lost your old man and you're still cracking a joke?'

"We turned in Alaris, got the bounty. Said goodbye to the doctor and went to shop for some more food." Spike continued.

"So what now?" Faye asked.

"There's a weird man who steals giant green leaves." Ed answered.

"Wait... I think I heard about this. It's... uh..." Jet tried to think of an answer

"Marijuana. Or pot, or whatever." Faye answered.

"Didn't that stuff die out, a while back?" Spike asked, confused.

"Ah, no matter," Jet said, "Let's go get this guy."

"How much is he, anyway?" Faye asked.

Spike picked a ticket that came from the TV and read it aloud.

"900,000 Woolongs."

"Aw, that's nothing compared to what we got, 4 million!" Faye said, irritated.

"Yeah, well, let's just **try** and get the guy." Spike said.

With that, everyone went back to their usual places.

"Hey, Spike, I'm gonna cook us something that **isn't** bell peppers and beef. D'ya have any suggestions?" Jet asked, calling out to Spike."

"Hang on, I'll just get us out of Mars first." Spike said, as he ran towards the control panel that controls the Bebop and flew the Bebop out of the Mars.

Later, the Bebop drifted across the empty realm of space.

As Spike was at the control deck, he fell asleep. Through his cybernetic eye, he starts to see his dad, a vision he had the moment he was about to leave him

"Son, I'm about to go somewhere and you... you **can't** follow me." Jeremiah said.

"But, dad..." young Spike said.

"Jeremiah looked at Spike and knelt down to talk to him.

"Listen to me," he said, "you might be alone, but everyone ends up being with people with each other again." he, then, continue to say, "You'll see me again sometime. When that time comes, everything could change."

Spike's vision later saw Jeremiah leaving him.

The vision changed from Jeremiah leaving Spike and saw something else.

Spike saw Her.

She was reading a book and was sitting near Spike, who was covered in bandages.

Spike tried to get up from the sofa, but his injuries made it harder to get up.

"Owwww." Spike grunted in pain.

The woman saw Spike trying to get up and hurting himself and went up to him

"Don't try and get up." she said, "You're hurt, see?"

Spike tried to say something but the bandages were covering his mouth, inabling him to talk.

"Spike, your injuries are starting to heal up." the woman said, while looking under the bandages.

"And, then... and then..." She tried to say something, but then she broke down, tears running down her face. She hid her face with her hands and lay it near Spike's body.

"Oh, why did you ever fall in love with me?" She said, while crying.

Spike looked at her and then looked up at the ceiling, ignoring her.

"And then," the woman let out a sigh, wiping away her tears, "you have to get out of here before Vicious finds you and kills you.

Spike, then, turned his head to her and started to listen.

"When we meet again, we must leave together and be at peace away from Vicious." she said.

There was silence until...

"OK." Spike said, muffled under the bandages, but good enough for the woman to understand him.

The vision started to fade away as Spike woke up, looking at the stars.

Spike started to think to himself...

'OK.'

Spike thought about Jeremiah and the woman he saw in both of his visions, then, he thought...

'No bell peppers and beef? That doesn't sound like Jet...'

Spike chuckled at the thought and left the control deck to join the others.

 **Like Father, Like Son**

 **See You, Space Cowboy**

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this story. Please review.**


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